Lawsuit says Hernandez shot man after fight

Friday

Jun 21, 2013 at 12:01 AMJun 21, 2013 at 2:45 AM

MIAMI — Former University of Florida football star and current New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez — who authorities have linked this week to a homicide investigation in Massachusetts — shot out one of his employees' eyes after a fight at Tootsie's Cabaret in Miami Gardens, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court.

By Evan S. Benn

MIAMI — Former University of Florida football star and current New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez — who authorities have linked this week to a homicide investigation in Massachusetts — shot out one of his employees' eyes after a fight at Tootsie's Cabaret in Miami Gardens, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court.

The alleged shooting happened in a car that was headed from the strip club to Palm Beach County early on Feb. 13. Sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call at 6:47 a.m. to find Alexander Bradley, 30, bleeding from a gunshot wound outside a John Deere store in Riviera Beach.

Bradley initially refused to tell investigators who shot him, although a police report noted that Bradley would be willing to prosecute his assailant. The criminal case has been classified as inactive.

The lawsuit, first reported by the website TMZ, comes at a time when police in Massachusetts are investigating Hernandez's possible involvement in the mysterious death of a man described as his acquaintance.

In the South Florida case, Bradley had sued Hernandez, 23, last week, but his attorneys withdrew the complaint four days later due to inaccurate wording. They re-filed the civil suit, which seeks more than $100,000 in damages, on Wednesday in U.S. District Court's Southern District of Florida.

At the time of the shooting, Bradley, who lives in Connecticut, had been working as an assistant to Hernandez, a job he no longer has, said Bradley's co-counsel, David Jaroslawicz.

The lawsuit contends that Hernandez and Bradley had an argument while at Tootsie's. They later left in a car with two other men.

At some point on the way north, Bradley claims that Hernandez pointed a gun at him. The gun went off, a bullet striking Bradley in the arm and head. He lost his right eye, underwent multiple facial-reconstruction surgeries and had plates and screws inserted in his face.